Lighting for supermarkets, what should I consider when choosing?”

Choosing a good lighting system for supermarkets is an important strategy for boosting sales in this type of establishment. After all, the customer’s experience also includes all the sensory stimuli they receive in the environment.

It should be understood that people usually go to the supermarket not only out of necessity, but also for leisure. During their shopping journey, people like to walk through the aisles, evaluate each product of interest, compare labels and prices, among other actions.

Therefore, good lighting is essential so that customers can read about the products and feel welcome in the space. Want to better understand how to choose a good lighting system for supermarkets? Then be sure to read on until the end of our post!

What is LED lighting for supermarkets?

To understand the differential of LED lighting systems in relation to other options, let’s explain the mechanism of each of the main types of artificial lighting equipment:

Incandescent: they are those that work by passing an electric current through a metal filament. During this process, a lot of heat is released. Therefore, there is a very large waste of electrical energy for two main reasons. A lot of electricity is needed to produce light, and the generated heat requires air conditioning for good climate control.

Fluorescent: they are more efficient and produce less heat. The light is produced by the friction of electrons with special gases. Consequently, they can be four times more economical than incandescent luminaires.

Finally, we have LED, which uses semiconductor circuits, the same material used in high-tech electronic equipment. A small amount of electrical energy is capable of stimulating the production of a large amount of light. An LED lighting system can illuminate 8 times more than an incandescent one and 2 times more than fluorescent ones, consuming the same amount of electricity.

LED lighting systems for supermarkets, in turn, require special luminaires and reflectors for commercial and industrial purposes. After all, it is necessary to ensure a high power of lighting, in a diffuse way, throughout the environment, without the light beams interfering with the customer’s sensory experience or impeding a faithful reproduction of the colors of the products, packaging, and labels.

To achieve this, your lighting project needs to guarantee:

• An adequate color temperature for commercial purposes;
• Minimal heat production to not reduce customer comfort;
• Adequate lighting capacity for the supermarket area;
• Among other characteristics.

LED luminaires and reflectors can deliver all of this and much more.

What is the impact of adequate lighting?

Today, we live in the era of the customer experience (CX). That is, companies compete to offer an impeccable shopping journey to consumers. This goes far beyond good cost-benefit and excellent products, two traditional paradigms of supermarket retail. Many competitors are already able to offer this, so it is necessary to seek other strategies to differentiate oneself.

CX understands the journey globally: people do not act only rationally, emotions and sensations play a preponderant role. Thus, a supermarket should offer as many pleasant stimuli as possible, while avoiding points that may cause a disruption of the experience.

Enables pleasant reading

A large part of the experience inside a supermarket is composed of comparing products. The customer reads each label, understands the ingredients or functionalities, the characteristics, and the manufacturer until they understand which is the best option for them.

Therefore, being in a supermarket with poor lighting will certainly cause a very negative experience, inviting them to explore the competition. Adequate and uniform lighting, on the other hand, makes them feel welcome in the environment.

Improving the air conditioning

As we explained, it is very common for lighting to produce a large amount of heat. In a supermarket, several high-power luminaires and reflectors will be used, which can significantly impair air conditioning.

In this sense, LED bulbs are really the most recommended option, since they make better use of electrical energy for light production, reducing heat release by 2 to 8 times. With this, you can dispense with the use of air conditioning or greatly reduce its need.

What are the advantages of LED luminaires for supermarkets?

In addition to what we explained above, the great differential of LED luminaires is energy efficiency. The energy consumption of a lighting equipment can be predicted by its power: the higher it is, the more energy will be consumed. In turn, it is necessary to observe the amount of light produced by the fixture, which is measured in a unit called lumens.

Thus, the efficiency of the model is the amount of lumens it can produce for each watt of power. In the case of LED technology, each watt can release from 80 to 150 lumens. Fluorescents, on the other hand, release between 50 and 90 lumens per watt. That is, they are much more efficient.

How to choose a good luminaire for supermarkets?

In addition to the criteria we talked about above, there are other very important ones to ensure success. Check it out!

Good color reproduction index.

The colors of labels and packaging are extremely important strategies for selling products in supermarkets. For this reason, manufacturers spend several months researching for each model.

Color is one of the main elements, as it strengthens the brand identity and evokes certain sensations in the consumer. Therefore, in order to provide a good shopping experience, it is necessary to offer luminaires that accurately reproduce color without distorting it. For example, incandescent lamps have a very low color temperature, tending towards yellow. Thus, the color of the light interacts with the packaging, distorting the original color.

Adequate photometric control.

In addition, there must be good photometric control, that is, the quantity and direction of the light beams cannot dazzle the customer. This is achieved through good spacing of the light in relation to the user and the choice of good equipment that diffuses the light rays.

ife span above 100,000 hours

Life span is another essential parameter. LED luminaires and reflectors currently have the highest durability on the market. A single piece can survive for more than 100,000 hours, which is more than 10 years of uninterrupted use.

This is essential for supermarkets, as lighting will be on for a large part of the day, even in the morning and afternoon. You don’t want your customers to see an employee maintaining the lighting on almost every visit, right?

For this reason, we recommend brands with the best reputation, such as Philips and SX. With them, you get all the above advantages with a durability exceeding 100,000 hours. Thus, the luminaires for supermarkets will present all the excellent results for the customer experience.

Want to learn more about our products and see which are the best options for your project? Contact us!